Many people are not aware of the fact that some of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts are man-made hybrids which we eat today. A selective breeding process was adopted to create these eatables. You will surprise to know that most of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables which we store in our kitchen or freeze to eat on daily basis are actually hybrids or man-made.
So, here are the top five eatables which are crossbreeds:
- Strawberry
The modern form of Strawberry is actually a man-made hybrid version of smaller wild strawberry. When we compare both of them, the modern strawberry is better in taste and aroma but has a shorter shelf life.
The idea to hybrid came in the mind of the French botanists in the 1300s while planting wild strawberries. He though to reproduce it by cloning and unfortunately, it didn’t work. Later on, in 1764, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne became successful to create the modern strawberry by crossbreeding male Fragaria moschata with female Fragaria chiloensis from Chile.
- Carrots
The history has enough pieces of evidence that white carrot has remained the favorite one eaten in the Roman Empire. But today we generally use orange carrot in our dishes or eating it directly without using as an ingredient. In the 10th century, the Persian had bred the white carrot with biggest roots to get big rooted carrots which gradually converted into yellow from white and finally to orange. The crossbreeding continued in modern times to improve its color and flavor.
- Grapefruit
The existence of Grapefruit first appeared in 1693 when Captain Shaddock transported some pomelo seeds to the West Indies. He planted these seeds close to some orange trees which resulted in the cross-pollinations of both the species. Finally, the breeding gave a result which is the grapefruit.
The grapefruit was primarily used within the territories of the Caribbean without any particular name. Later, a European Botanist officially named is as Grapefruit. The botanists across the world were confused for a long time about its origin and in 1948 they discovered that is was a hybrid.
- Almond
The history of Almond is still unclear because it is a man-made hybrid of a wild amount which comes in many varieties. The wild almond is a notorious nut which tastes bitter and could be deadly when it is consumed more than the considerable amount.
The scientist has also claimed that Amygdalus Fenzliana Lipsky as the wild ancestor of Almond because its seeds and fruits are almost similar to the modern almond. Beside all these, the scientists have been also confused that how a man has created a sweet almond from a poisonous one.
- Banana
It is a man-made hybrid of Musa Balbisiana and wild Musa acuminata banana species. When Musa acuminate is fleshy and unpleasant to taste, Musa balbisiana is a seedy one to taste sweet. The origin of modern banana is the forests of South Asia but it has evolved from sterile. It is believed that the crossbreeding of bananas is happening for last the 10,000 years which led to the creation of modern banana. The primeval ancestors had discovered the process of breeding years ago and involved themselves in the crossbreeding process of banana plants with other favorable traits